Giga Metals Corp. Jan. 30 reported results from 38 holes drilled last year at the company's Turnagain nickel-cobalt project in northern British Columbia.

A resource calculated in conjunction with a preliminary economic assessment prepared for Turnagain in 2011 outlines 865 million metric tons of measured and indicated resources at Turnagain averaging 0.21 percent (4 billion pounds) nickel and 0.013 percent (250 million lb) cobalt; plus 976 million metric tons of inferred resource averaging 0.2 (4 billion lb) nickel and 0.013 (280 million lb) cobalt.

The 2018 program primarily focused on infill and metallurgical drilling at Horsetrail and Northwest, zones that host the resource, but also included four exploration holes targeting outlying zones.

The company completed 23 infill holes between the Horsetrail and Northwest zones. Highlights from this drilling include:

• Hole DDH18-268 cut 447 meters of 0.258 percent nickel and 0.013 percent cobalt from a depth of 4.35 meters to the bottom of the hole;

• DDH18-269 cut 218.7 meters of 0.266 percent nickel and 0.013 percent cobalt from 2.9 meters to the bottom of the hole;

• DDH18-271 cut 370.6 meters of 0.276 percent nickel and 0.013 percent cobalt from four meters to the bottom of the hole;

• DDH18-272 cut 289.3 meters of 0.28 percent nickel and 0.013 percent cobalt from eight meters to the bottom of the hole;

• DDH18-282 cut 101.4 meters of 0.296 percent nickel and 0.012 percent cobalt from 1.94 meters, 121.4 meters of 0.215 percent nickel and 0.011 percent cobalt from 103.3 meters, and 215.2 meters of 0.284 percent nickel and 0.014 percent cobalt from 253 meters to the bottom of the hole; and

• DDH18-287 cut 165.9 meters of 0.261 percent nickel and 0.014 percent cobalt from surface, 108 meters of 0.209 percent nickel and 0.013 percent cobalt from 180 meters, 204 meters of 0.307 percent nickel and 0.015 percent cobalt from 288 meters, and 107 meters of 0.267 percent nickel and 0.013 percent cobalt from 492 meters.

"The analytical results reported here further demonstrate the remarkable continuity of mineralization in the Horsetrail and Northwest zones," said Giga Metals CEO Mark Jarvis. "We expect the results to allow for the conversion of significant tonnes from the inferred resource category quoted in our December 2011 PEA to the indicated category."

The 2018 program also included 13 metallurgical holes drilled within the two deposits. Many of these holes encountered long sections of mineralization with nickel and cobalt percentages above the resource average, including:

• DDH18-294 cut 191.5 meters of 0.374 percent nickel and 0.016 percent cobalt from a depth of eight meters to the bottom of the hole;

• DDH18-296 cut 180.7 meters of 0.344 percent nickel and 0.021 percent cobalt from a depth of eight meters to the bottom of the hole;

• DDH18-297 cut 177.6 meters of 0.339 percent nickel and 0.017 percent cobalt from a depth of eight meters to the bottom of the hole; and

• DDH18-301 cut 388.1 meters of 0.257 percent nickel and 0.015 percent cobalt from a depth of three meters to the bottom of the hole.

"The metallurgical infill holes within the proposed starter pits are expected to move some indicated resources to the measured category," said Jarvis. "Additionally, the company now has at its disposal several tonnes of fresh new sample, representative of run-of-mine material, for metallurgical testing."

The 2018 drill program also included two exploration holes drilled at Attic, a platinum enriched zone about 3,500 meters northwest of Horsetrail, and two exploration holes at Mag, a magnetic anomaly about 2,100 meters further to the northwest.

DDH18-301, drilled below a previously intersected platinum- and palladium-enriched zone of mineralization, cut 22 meters averaging 355 parts per billion platinum and 316 ppb palladium from a down-hole depth of 238 meters (roughly 185 meters vertical depth).

DDH18-303, a second hole drilled from the same pad but in an untested area to the northwest, did not encounter any notable mineralization.

The two holes drilled at MAG zone did not penetrate the thick sedimentary cover and returned no intervals of note.

Giga Metals Corp.

The 40 holes drilled by Giga Metals in 2018 will likely upgrade and expand the nickel-cobalt resource at Turnagain.

Giga Metals are awaiting assay results from one infill hole and one metallurgical infill hole from the 2018 drilling in the resource area at Turnagain.

–SHANE LASLEY